A Gurgaon-based man has shared how Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal’s 'controversial' Chief of Staff advertisement led him to resign from his job in Toronto and join an aerospace venture that had no name, team or fixed idea at the time.
(Also read: Startup advisor recalls meeting with Deepinder Goyal during Zomato's early days: 'Deepi was bubbling with energy')
Taking to X, Harshit Mulchandani shared a detailed post titled, “I applied to Deepinder Goyal’s ₹20 lakh Chief of Staff post. Sixteen months later, I quit.”
The ‘controversial’ job advertisement
In November 2024, Goyal invited applications for a Chief of Staff position that offered no salary during the first year and required the selected candidate to pay ₹20 lakh for the opportunity to work with him.
The advertisement triggered widespread criticism online, with people calling it “exploitative, elitist, and a publicity stunt”. Mulchandani, however, said his reaction was different.
“The moment I read the post, I knew I had to apply,” he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}“The moment I read the post, I knew I had to apply,” he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Instead of preparing a conventional job application, he submitted an honest 200-word note about his life. He wrote about losing his father at the age of 13, helping run the family’s textile business, studying at the University of Toronto and building Opportunest, a platform that attracted more than 14,000 users.
“I had spent most of my life finding things I didn’t fully know how to do and then figuring them out,” he said.
Meeting Deepinder Goyal
Mulchandani met Goyal at his farmhouse on December 25, 2024. He had expected a conventional interview, but the two instead spoke for nearly an hour about businesses, life, ambition and his future.
“Two minutes after leaving his farmhouse, I sent in my resignation from my job in Toronto,” he wrote.
Mulchandani was offered a role in a company that did not yet have a name or clearly defined business idea. The venture later became LAT Aerospace.
He said the initial days were confusing because there was no established plan to execute. “There wasn’t really a job to start,” he wrote, explaining that the team first had to determine what it wanted to build while learning about the aerospace industry from scratch.
Building LAT Aerospace
Mulchandani said the team held more than 100 conversations with pilots, engineers, manufacturers and industry experts while exploring different ideas.
LAT eventually grew from about five people to nearly 55. He said Goyal encouraged the team to stop overthinking and “build hardware at the pace of software”.
“Build, break, learn from it, and return with a better machine,” Mulchandani wrote.
(Also read: ‘Deepinder Goyal, this isn’t just a complaint’: Cuttack restaurant slams Zomato for penalising it over delivery error)
He said two lessons fundamentally changed how he approached building companies: “Done is better than perfect” and “Progress depends on sequencing uncertainty.”
Why he decided to leave
Mulchandani said leaving was difficult because LAT had become an unusual aerospace company, and he had access, responsibility and opportunities to continue learning.
However, he felt that staying would have been the safer decision.
“If learning becomes the prerequisite for beginning, the beginning can be postponed indefinitely,” he wrote, explaining why he ultimately decided to resign after 16 months.
Take a look here at the post:
Internet reacts
The post received supportive reactions from users. One person wrote, “Excellent write up. May you shine in this as well.” Another commented, “This is insane!! Good luck bro!” A third said, “All eyes on your new venture, onwards and upwards,” while another added, “This is so good, my good wishes are with you.”